Govt searching Plan B for Kadapa steel plant after Liberty troubles 

VIJAYAWADA: Reiterating that State government is committed to establish a steel plant in Kadapa, Industries and Commerce Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy has maintained that though the government initially decided to set up the steel Plant along with Liberty Steels, the decision was held in abeyance due to the poor financial position of the company. Speaking to mediapersons at the Secretariat on Wednesday, the minister said that Liberty Group was taken a hit after one of the companies funding the Group went into bankruptcy.

Going by the reports, the UK government is also not coming forward to assist the Liberty Group, he said and added that the State government will now look for a ‘Plan B’. The Chief Minister is keen on setting up the Steel Plant in Kadapa district and the government will go in that direction, he asserted.There are proposals of considering the company came as L2 or the government taking up the project. The final decision will be revealed soon, he said.

Earlier, the minister reviewed with the officials of Industries and Information Technology (IT) departments. He said that incentives to the tune of `1,000 crore to large and medium scale industries and `300 crore to MSMEs are being given.Accusing the previous TDP regime of keeping payment of incentives pending, he directed the officials to pay the incentives within time as per the instructions given by the Chief Minister. 

IT meet on April 2 

Goutham Reddy said that a round table conference involving CEOs of IT companies will be held in Vijayawada on April 2 to discuss the steps needed to be taken for investments and creation of employment in the IT sector. Issues including work from home, skill development, employment, concept cities, internet library and others will be discussed during the conference, he said.